In the plenary meeting, the participants discussed Russian-Finnish cooperation in economy, industry, power, technology, and transport. The Minister of Finland Ville Skinner pointed out that the Russian Federation was one of the most important markets for Finland and due to this fact a major goal for both countries was to further develop cooperation and enhance the linkages.
COVID-19 pandemic became a great challenge for global cooperation, and today it was the time to increase the joint effort in all areas between Russia and Finland.
Russian-Finnish Dialog
The Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov and the Russian Trade Representative in Finland Anton Loginov also took part in the meeting between the Ministers and the major Russian and Finnish companies. Along with Argus Spectrum International, the Russian side was represented by leading companies of energy and power spheres, electronics industry, and shipbuilding including JSC Rusatom Overseas, RAO Nordic Oy, PAO Severstal, the United Shipbuilding Corporation, and others.
The Finnish side was presented by Raute Oyj, Huhtamäki Oyj, Valio Oyj, Paulig Oyj, UPM Kymmene Oy, PayIQ Oy, Vilakone Oy, UPM Kymmene Oy, PayIQ Oy, Vilakone Oy as well as the Heads of East Finland Industry Office and the Finnish-Russian Chamber of Commerce.
The participants shared their experience of operating during the pandemic
According to Denis Manturov, direct dialog with business representatives enables us to keep up with all the problems and main issues, collect suggestions and proposals which then can be developed and worked through, and this helps to make final and informed decisions at the governmental level.
During the meeting, the participants shared their experience of operating during the pandemic, discussed the main issues of trade cooperation between two countries, and expressed their hopes and plans for developing on Russian-Finnish markets.
Subsidizing of Mandatory Certification
In his speech at the Commission, Mikhail Levchuk referred to the issue of mandatory certification requirement which becomes one of the biggest obstacles when entering a foreign market. The time factor is crucial: without rapid output of products to foreign markets, high-tech companies rapidly lose their competitiveness and become unable to conduct fully-fledged production activities. Meanwhile, expensive and time-consuming processes of certification make this task even more complicated.
However, the program of subsidizing external certification operating on the territory of Russia does not contain a protected budget item for manufacturers of the radio-electronic industry and sufficient funding.
At the same time, there are no existing certification subsidy programs in Finland. And this is the main need for state support for foreign trade companies in accordance with state goals and interest in the development of export-oriented companies in the territories of the two countries.
Roundtable Discussion on Banking Issues
During the Commission, the routable discussion on banking services supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Finnish-Russian Business Council was also held. The main goal of the event was to discuss problems of banking services faced by Russian companies in Finland.
Financial representatives came up with a number of solutions aimed at eliminating the problem
The representatives of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance of Finland, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Federation of Finnish Financial Services, Embassy of the Russian Federation in Finland, the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Finland as well as business and financial representatives of both countries took part in the discussion. Mikhail Levchuk participated in the meeting as well.
Banking services
Banking services for Russian companies in Finland are one of the most pressing issues in the context of cross-border cooperation. Russian businesses are faced with the situations of forced closures of bank accounts and the inability to open them again. Nowadays more than $3 billion of Russian direct investments have been accumulated in the economy of Finland.Argus Spectrum International in Europe
For more than 20 years Argus Spectrum International has been operating on the European market. Argus Spectrum International wireless technologies, developed in St Petersburg, protect such significant buildings as the Queen’s Castle in Scotland, Edinburgh Castle, Cambridge University, Eton College, etc. December 2019 the Grand Opening Ceremony of the European factory was held in Savonlinna (Finland).
Argus Spectrum International completed certification of the Streletz-PRO wireless fire detection system
Earlier in 2019 the two manufacturing facilities of Argus Spectrum International – in the Russian Federation and in Europe – successfully passed the demanding LPCB audits and were awarded the highly recognized LPCB mark.
May 2020 Argus Spectrum International successfully completed certification of the “Streletz-PRO” wireless fire detection system to European EN 54 standards by the LPCB (UK) which confirms the highest levels of performance and reliability for "Streletz-PRO" wireless products.
Now, Argus Spectrum International in cooperation with European partners supplies its wireless fire alarm system to the UK, UAE, India, and Australia. The company is committed to expanding the range of wireless products and increasing production by Euro 50 million per year.